


Of Vice and Virtue

by theimaginesyouneveraskedfor



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-08
Updated: 2017-11-08
Packaged: 2019-01-31 03:25:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12667254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theimaginesyouneveraskedfor/pseuds/theimaginesyouneveraskedfor
Summary: The reader is seized by cold feet on the eve of her wedding day.





	Of Vice and Virtue

You watched the motion of the bristles as they dragged through your thick hair. The movement of your reflection was soothing as the rest of you was overcome with rampant anxiety, even your breath took effort. As a dam on the eve of her wedding, you were to wear your hair loose for your last unwed appearance. This was it.

The next night, you would be princess, and you feared the magic would dissipate before your eyes. You loved Fili deeply, more than you had ever loved anyone or anything. The thought of him still evoked in you that sensation of floating, as if the sight of him could lift you to the clouds. Yet, there was that sliver of doubt, driving deeper into your heart the more you thought of wedding him. You were not just pledging yourself to him, but to Erebor.

A knock hammered at the door and you dropped your brush in surprise. The silver handle clanked against your vanity before plummeting to the floor. A gift from your love, engraved with both your initials. You bent to retrieve it, setting it shakily in its place atop the vanity. You tied the belt of your robe, the gown you would wear that night still hanging from the bed post. You inhaled deeply, unprepared to face the adoring gaze of your affianced.

You crossed to the door, your hand resting upon the handle as you braced yourself. You forced aside your apprehension and donned the stoic façade you had refined for your courtly duties. You pulled open the door, a sigh escaping your lips as you found yourself faced with the last person you had expected.

It was not that Thorin hated you, he had never taken any issue with you truly. Upon the quest, he had been as rigid towards you as he had with his nephews. On the younger side of the spectrum of his company, you had expected his disapproval. But like his nephews, you had proven yourself. You had helped reclaim his Mountain and the home of his people. And you had fallen in love.

You and Fili had ever been friends. As dwarflings, you had broken into Ellis’ berry patch and proclaimed it your secret lair. You had been chased out a dozen times over by old Ellis and had bolstered each other in your first illicit visit to the village tavern. You had faced the wrath of his mother and your own, shoulder to shoulder, as you grinned in complicity. It had taken the threat of death to open your eyes to the love right before you and the danger had proven more than worth it.

“Y/N,” Thorin greeted in monotone, “I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

 _Would it matter if you were?_  You thought but kept the retort concealed behind your iron veneer, “Not at all,” You lied, “What brings your majesty to my door so unexpectedly?”

“Royal business,” He stated plainly, “May I?”

He motioned past you and you slowly retreated, holding the door open as he stepped inside. You watched him as he looked around your chamber, stripped bare in preparation of your impending relocation. His blue eyes set you on edge as they returned to you and a weight settled on your chest, as if the entire Mountain rested atop you.

“Perhaps I’ve come too late…Mahal, I know I’ve waited far too long,” He watched as you dragged your slippered feet towards your vanity, twiddling your fingers as you did your best not to break your gaze, “But I am obligated as king to this realm and its people to make certain of its future.”

“Thorin?” You gripped your vanity chair with one hand, restraining yourself from chewing on your cheek. You did not want him to see your weakness.

“Fili is this Mountain’s future. He is to be king after me and he must have a queen as able as he. It is not merely a crown he inherits, but the lives of all he rules over.” Thorin’s tone was the same he had taken in your childhood, when he would stand beside Dis and reprimand his nephew and you for your latest hijinks, “You’ve been living in a dream, I fear. Your eyes are closed to reality. What your vows will truly mean. For yourself. For Fili. For the Mountain.”

“I know what I’ve agreed to, Thorin,” You snapped, your wits barely holding, “I know it’ll all change. I fear more than I can ever imagine…” You stopped yourself from confessing all your deepest fears, “I love Fili.”

“I know you do,” Thorin let out a long sigh, shaking his head as he shifted on his feet, his stare boring into you,  “But love isn’t always enough. Kingdoms are not built on romance.”

“Why are you here? To convince me to back out? To break your very own nephew’s heart?”

“I only want you to consider all that come with my nephew, for your own good and that of the realm—” He neared you and you let go of the chair, backing away from him stubbornly.

“The realm, the realm, the realm!” You exclaimed in your frustration, “My only worry would be that Fili grows as apathetic as you. That he would sell his soul for all the silver in the Mountain. There is more to Erebor; there is room enough for his heart.”

“I only want you to think on what I’ve said,” He held his palms up peaceably, keeping his distance, “I did not come to upset you, only to help.”

“What must I do to prove myself to you? Have I not shown myself to be loyal?” You bemoaned, “I’ve bled for this Mountain. For you. For Fili. As I would ever again. Do you think I am so shallow? So stupid that I’ve not thought of these worries? That I don’t carry them with me always?”

A silence flooded the chamber as you glared at Thorin and he looked solemnly back at you. He considered you for a moment, appraising your value as if you were a bag of silver.

“You’re young, you’ve still the twinkle of sanguinity in you,” He turned away from you, tossing back his dark hair as he paced the bare floorboards, “I just want you to be prepared.”

“And Fili? What of him? Have you given him the same talk? Do you doubt him so?”

“My nephew is a brave dwarf, a fine prince. I have no fears about him…only that he lets his heart surpass his judgement,” The king neared the door, his hand hovering above the handle, “I shall see you tonight at the feast, Y/N,” He pulled open the door, turning back to you momentarily, “You have much time until then to think on what I’ve said.”

With that, he disappeared into the corridor, the door closing ominously behind him. Your own doubts mingled with his dreadful words and you sat heavily in the vanity chair, rubbing your temples as you tried to repel the rising panic. All you could think of was Fili and his cheerful blue eyes, the shadow of disappointment looming as he stood across from you at the altar.

Surely, Thorin was wrong. Even he could not stand between you and Fili. Surely.


End file.
